Text-to-speech in the classroom.What do teachers need to know?

Reading is a process of constructing meaning from written text. Decoding is a subskill of this process. Students who have difficulties decoding text must overcome barriers related to reading and understanding printed materials in order to be able to access content and information. While students experiencing difficulty require both explicit reading instruction and practice, they may also benefit from the use of technology as a support to help reduce the barriers of print while they are improving their skills. To maximize student success, technologies must be combined and aligned with effective instruction.

There is a range of technologies available to help individuals who struggle with reading. While each type of tool works a little differently, most tools help by presenting text as speech. This facilitates decoding, reading fluency, and comprehension. Students who do not require text-to-speech may experiment with it but are unlikely to choose to use it for daily reading.

Choosing the right tool

Choosing an appropriate technology solution involves gathering information about your students, identifying needs and potential technologies, and investigating the effectiveness of different technologies with different students.

There are many free versions of text-to-speech available on the web. Depending upon the personalizing options that they offer (e.g., type of text that can be read aloud, highlighting of text for tracking, adjustment of speed, choice of voice, ability to read in different applications), free versions may or may not be suitable for individual student use. For students who have specific learning needs or preferences, consideration may need to be given to purchasing text-to-speech software that can provide the level of support required.

The Digital Repository of Textbooks for Students with Disabilities houses a secure online database of digital versions of most authorized grade 4 to 12 student textbooks for language arts, mathematics, social studies and science.

These digital resources are available for students with disabilities in Alberta and can be accessed with the use of text-to-speech.

Introducing to students

To familiarize students with text-to-speech software, identify critical functions and systemically introduce through:

explicit whole group, small group or individual instruction

peer training and support

video tutorials online.

If using software that provides a suite of tools, initially limit the function to only text-to-speech and gradually expand to include the other tools on an as-needed basis.

Guided practice

Introduce text-to-speech with an engaging task (e.g., reading an online magazine in an area of interest) and allow the student to become comfortable and confident with using text-to-speech before extending to an academic task or specific subject area.

Identify a specific task the student would be expected to complete using text-to-speech (e.g., working with a partner to review three websites) and indicators that demonstrate that the technology is making a difference in the student’s ability to complete the task.

Sample indicators of success might include:

increased student participation in learning activities

demonstration of understanding of text-based material (e.g., through verbal or written expression)

Monitoring and assessing effectiveness

Collect data on a regular basis based on indicators of success to help determine the effectiveness of using text-to-speech. If expected success is not achieved, it might indicate a need for a change in how text-to-speech is being implemented (e.g., student is being asked to use text-to-speech on too many tasks or in too many subject areas). The student may require more time to become comfortable with the software, or perhaps a different software or approach may need to be considered.

Note how often students use text-to-speech over the course of a school day, how long they use it at one time, and what impact it has on reading success. For example, did students complete the assignments? How long did it take? Did they understand and remember key concepts?

If results indicate that text-to-speech software is not benefiting an individual student who is struggling with decoding, consult with an assistive technology consultant to explore other options.

Differentiated instruction

The strategic use of technology can engage learners at varying levels of readiness and in multiple ways, supporting the differentiation of instruction to help meet the diverse learning needs of students.

Text-to-speech can:

provide a scaffold and support access to learning when students are provided with digital text and resources with text-to-speech options

provide students access to text above their independent decoding level

allow students to work from the same resources in various ways

provide choice and access to a wider variety of learning options for all students when a variety of learning resources are available as digital text

help create a learning environment responsive to the learning preferences, interests, and readiness of the individual learner.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

A Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach recognizes that barriers to learning can exist within the environment and aims to maximize learning for all students by creating flexible learning environments that reduce or eliminate potential barriers. For some students, the emphasis on print materials is a barrier and interferes with their ability to access and interact with content.

UDL also emphasizes the need to clearly identify the purpose of the learning activity in order to allow students multiple options for how they can successfully accomplish the goal or purpose of the activity.

For example, if students are asked to read a short story, the purpose of the learning task will determine the scaffolds and supports that might be appropriate. Is the purpose to:

practise decoding and reading fluency

learn a comprehension strategy

learn about a key character

form an opinion and share back with the whole group?

If the purpose of the short story assignment is to form an opinion and share back with the whole group (rather than practice decoding skills), then using text-to-speech to support decoding would enhance comprehension and would not interfere with the goal of the learning activity.

However, if the goal of the learning task is to collect evidence of independent reading fluency, text-to-speech may not be appropriate.

Response to Intervention

Typically, Response to Intervention is the practice of providing evidence-based instruction and intervention matched to student need. The RtI model offers tiered interventions for students who are not benefitting from universal instructional strategies and therefore require additional or more intensive interventions.

Text-to-speech could be considered a solution for students who have difficulty decoding at grade-level expectations, particularly in the upper grades.